Committee: UNICEF

Country: Sudan

Topic: Child Soldiers

Name: Cristian Maldonado

Children have every right to be free and have a good life, but war and violence doesn’t let this happen. Armies that force young children into fighting for them are taking their freedom and ruining their lives. Many child soldiers between the ages of 7 to 17 are forced to fight. They are forced to kill their own relatives. Also half of the child soldiers are girls, and many of them are abused, raped or become sex slaves. There are more deaths from child soldiers than of those that are adults during the outbreaks that occur. Although many of the children get set free many of them get rejected by their own families or are not able to find them. During this time in their life they live with the horrid memories.

There are over 12,000 child soldiers located yet alone in northern parts of Sudan. The LRA sells many of the abducted children for more arms; there has been a report saying that Bin Laden was a main buyer, forcing the children to work on marijuana farms located in some areas of Sudan. Many of the child soldiers are linked to the militias in the government, rebel movements, and even the Sudanese army. Now many of the children have been slowly demobilized from the SPLA, and over a thousand have been able to go home and put into rehabilitation. The demobilization still continues up to this date, posing a great sign of progress in the work this was put onto.

In conclusion, the Delegate of Sudan believes that if we continue to try and get as many children free, we will eventually succeed. Although, the Delegate of Sudan would also like to hear the opinions of other countries in what is helpful to solving this issue. Any ideas of how to demobilize more child soldiers and help them with any problems regarding their mental health will be appreciated. Sudan would also like to imply our work ethic to other countries with issues such as these. The Delegate of Sudan would like to thank all the countries that help Sudan with this issue.

Henshaw, Amber. "BBC NEWS | Africa | Sudan 'has 6,000 Child Soldiers'" BBC News Home. 22 Dec. 2008. Web. 23 May 2011. .

"Child Soldiers - Child Soldiers in Sudan." Child Soldiers - Children in Conflict. Web. 23 May 2011. .

"Whats Going On." Welcome to the United Nations: It's Your World. Web. 23 May 2011. .

The most important thing I learned in MUN was to be able to speak in front of others without fear. It helped me through out my 9th grade year with many other classes when I had to present certain work. It made me become a greater person since i was able to talk easily and work with my classmates and show my opinions to other. With the skills I learned in MUN I will be able to talk to more people outside of the class if i were to speak to a group about a certain topic. I can teach people about whats going on in the world and what are some great ways to solve the problems. The skills will help me debate on certain things and could convince people to look at my point of view of things other than just them looking at their own view.